Sudanese demonstrators on rampage in Khartoum

In the Sudanese capital Khartoum, crowds of demonstrators furious at the execution of nine men in the Darfur region have set shops and cars on fire in a local market. Police estimate that at least 5,000 people took to the streets in protest.

The nine men were hanged on Monday after being found guilty of the murder of newspaper editor Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, in 2006. Mr Ahmed’s newspaper, al-Wifaq, once published an article claiming that the problem of rape in Darfur was not so serious as had been reported. It also described women from the region in unflattering terms.

The newspaper had also angered Islamists by publishing articles about the Prophet Mohammad and by criticising the ruling National Congress Party of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.